Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum
by HowShouldIKnow
Summary: At the end of her sixth year, Briara Potter, “The Girl Who Lived,” defeated Lord Voldemort. In his last moments, Voldemort used a little known charm, banishing Bri to a far more familiar HP universe until its Voldemort is destroyed by its own chosen one.
1. I

Spoiler up through HBP eventually

I've read a lot of stories where Harry gets sent somewhere else after destroying Voldemort. This is kind of a reverse of that idea. I haven't really run across any of these yet. I'm sure there out there, but I haven't found them.

Summary: At the end of her sixth year, Briara Potter, "The Girl Who Lived," defeated Lord Voldemort. In his last moments, Voldemort used the _Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum _charm, banishing Bri to a far more familiar HP universe until its Voldemort is destroyed by its own chosen one.

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

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No sixteen year old should have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Hell, no one of any age should have to deal with what Briara Potter had been forced into. It was just too much. She didn't regret her fate however, it was a destiny that someone had to fulfill, if it hadn't been her then it would have been forced upon someone else. Bri could never condemn someone else to the nightmare she'd been through, so she took her destiny in stride, aka a butt load of complaints and whining, of course.

Oh yes, there had been plenty of grumbling on Bri's part. Ever since her parents had told her of the prophecy after the remnants of Lord Voldemort had been found inhabiting the back of her Defense Against the Dark Arts skull in first year barely a day went by without a "Why me?" or "Pick someone else, I'm too tired to get out of bed today." She never truly meant it, she knew why it was her, and even if she was too tired to get out of bed she was sure that her Uncle Sirius would help her out by taking her _and_ her bed to the scene of the battle.

She really wouldn't mind having her bed with her right now. The grass lining the ground of the Quiditch Pitch may _look_ soft, but as curse after curse sent her crashing into it, the grass lost its appeal. Not that being blasted into a mattress would be much better, she'd rather not be blasted into anything, thank you very much, but it would help.

_Or how about a large body of water to land in? _She thought as she scrambled out of the way of a wayward Body Bind that found its way towards her. Of course, this played into Voldemort's hand as his Crucio had been sent directly where she dodged to. Momentarily, Bri's own screams drowned out all the other sounds of people fighting and dieing all around her. As the pain subsided and Voldemort's cynical laugh filled her ears she finished her earlier thought. _No, I'd probably end up drowning. A large body of jell-o, perhaps?_ She snorted out loud at the image of her beaten body bouncing off of a large bunt shaped orange jell-o that suddenly appeared on the pitch. Voldemort regarded her skeptically as she tried to get her giggling under control. Well, let him think she was crazy, she'd certainly been hexed and cursed enough to drive most people nutters.

Speaking of nuts, where was Sergeant Bushytail? Running to gain some cover behind a goal post, Briara looked down the pitch for her friend. Ah, there he was! Ron Weasley, the most ferocious squirrel animagus you would ever meet, was fighting back to back with Moony against five Death Eaters. They were holding their own, but looked to be wearing down.

Farther on in the pitch Lieutenant Hooters had just used her patronus to banish the dementors that had been closing in on her. Hermione had really protested the Marauder nickname that had been assigned her, but being as her animal was a great horned owl, and, truth be told, she _was_ rather well endowed, she'd had little say in the matter. The dementors out of her way, Hooters moved over to help Moony and Bushytail.

Briara continued scanning the battle for her friends, her fear for what could be happening to her friends outweighing the question as to why Voldemort wasn't attacking her. The twins (both the Weasley and Patil variety) were on the far side of the pitch taking a beating from a giant and two ogres, Hagrid, Grawp, and Padfoot were on their way to the rescue. Her parents were allied with the Giant Squid, Fluffy, Aragog as well as many aurors she recognized and some upperclassmen students guarding the entrances to the castle. Luna, her parents and Neville were along the forest's edge with the centaurs keeping the evil things lurking in the forest from joining the main battle. Neville's grandmother was inside with Madame Pomfrey assisting the injured lucky enough to reach the castle.

Many of her friends had fallen. The unstoppable Avada Kedavra had claimed many victims during the intense battle. Many Death Eaters had fallen as well. All the bodies were strewn across the ground; after all, everyone was equal in death.

She started to panic slightly. Where was Major Malformed? (Or, majorly Malformed, as Bri usually teased him.) His nickname had nothing to do with his animagus animal, but more with the numerous attempted transformations that ended badly, such as a human ear left on a furry face or the whiskers that remained when he reverted to human. It had taken Malformed nearly three months longer than the rest of them to fully master his transformation. He had petitioned for a new name, something that had more to do with a coyote, but Malformed stuck.

Bri still couldn't find him but was not allowed to dwell on her friend any longer when Voldemort apparated directly in front of her, clutching the Sorting Hat. _So much for those anti apparation wards so highly acclaimed in _Hogwarts; A History,_ Hermione will be disappointed._ She thought, wondering what the blazes the Dark Lord wanted with the musty old hat.

Voldemort reached into the hat and withdrew a silver scythe with emeralds placed in an intricate pattern down the handle. He tossed the hat away from him and regarded the formidable looking weapon. A smirk graced the snake like mans lips.

"A scythe, the symbol of Death. Fitting, don't you think? Just as Thanatos brings death to others, so shall I bring death to you." Bri took a step back and tripped over a rock as Voldemort advanced on her.

_It can't end like this. Too many people are counting on me._ She reached for her wand, but it had fallen out of her grasp when she tripped. She searched frantically for something to defend herself with. Her grasping fingers came in contact with the fabric of the Sorting Hat. Hoping against hope she reached into the empty hat. If Voldemort could pull something out of it she could too, right? In the hat her hand felt warm metal. Grasping the metal, she pulled out a sword from the hat. Now, if only she knew how to use it.

_Just get the pointy end into the ugly bald guy with red eyes. _Standing up, Briara yelled and ran straight towards Voldemort. Voldemort swung his scythe down towards her but she ducked, the sharp blade only cutting into her right arm instead of decapitating her. Using her forward momentum, Briara slammed her new sword straight through the Dark Lords stomach.

With a surprised gurgle, Voldemort fell backward off the blade and onto the ground. Briara collapsed to her knees, relieved, no-one could possibly survive a wound like that, the stomach acids would begin to eat at the rest of the body's tissues.

The battle field (formerly the Quiditch Pitch) was silent. Everyone turned to the fallen Dark Lord and the sixteen year old girl with the bloody sword clenched in her fists. Some of the death eaters began to apparate away, knowing their Lords reign was at an end.

But Voldemort had one more trick up his sleeve. As his eyes began to close for eternity the words to a spell could be barely heard coming from his bloodied lips.

"_Alius Ego, Alius Rudimentum."_ Another me, another attempt. A large crack, like a thousand people apparating at once, resounded over the castle grounds. Followed by a clang as a bloody sword fell to the ground and hit a rock that a girl had once tripped over. A girl who was no longer anywhere to be found.

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Well, that's it for now, I will continue it as time allows, but I am very busy with school and work. Hope most of you liked it, if not, then at least I wasted your time.

I apologize for any spelling errors, I'm a biology major, not an English major.


	2. II

**Massive HBP Spoilage**

Summary: At the end of her sixth year, Briara Potter, "The Girl Who Lived," defeated Lord Voldemort. In his last moments, Voldemort used the _Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum _charm, banishing Bri to a far more familiar HP universe until its Voldemort is destroyed by its own chosen one.

This is an AU, starting at the end of Harry's sixth year.

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

(Q&A)

Is Briara related to Harry / is she the daughter James and Lily might have had?

It's not so much that Briara is related to Harry, but more of a she _IS_ Harry, just in this particular reality the child of James and Lily was born with an X chromosome instead of a Y. There are no long lost siblings or twins involved. There are obviously going to be more differences between the realities (such as Briara's parents being alive,) but we shall delve into those at a later date.

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A lone figure stepped out from under his invisibility cloak in front of Hogwarts castle jut shortly after midnight. Life for Harry had really taken a turn for the worse after the last few days. So much death, so much destruction, and yet Voldemort was still on the loose. He should have been able to do more to save his friends. Maybe if he had been stronger and faster he could have broken free of Dumbledore's charm and saved him.

The brightly shinning sun that had been in the sky during the wake the previous afternoon had belied the solemn mood around the castle. And yet, the brightness had seemed strangely right. Dumbledore had lived his life in the light and it was fitting that it should end the same way.

Harry moved over towards the lake where Dumbledore's body had been encased. The white tomb seemed to glow ethereally under the light of the stars. He sat down with his back to the white marble and rested his head on his knees, the discarded invisibility cloak crumpled on the ground next to him.

"I'm leaving to go back to the Dursley's tomorrow, just like you wanted." Harry said. "I'll be staying there until Bill's wedding. Then, well, I'm going to find the rest of the horcruxes and end this stupid war. Ron and Hermione want to come with me. I can just see that conversation between Ron and his mother. She's likely to blow something up. It would be great having them with me, but I don't want to risk their lives. If they come, I don't know if they'd make it back, I don't even know if _I'll_ make it back. But I have to try. Everyone is depending on me."

Harry sighed and lifted his head to look back towards the lights twinkling fm the castle. "It's not the same without you up there. Everyone is more on edge. We really took your presence for granted. I mean, we all knew that we felt safer with you around, but it was generally believed that you would always be here. And now your not, and we don't know what to do.

"There was talk of closing the school next year. They decided not to though. McGonagall is going to keep it open for whoever wants to return. The Patil's probably won't be here, but Seamus will. He got into a row with his mum right after the battle. She wanted to take him home but he refused. I'm glad some of us are coming back. Maybe it will show Voldemort that we're not all so scared of him that we can't live our lives normally. Well, as normal as possible, given the war and everything. Sometimes I wi. . ." he broke off as a sound coming from the direction of the castle broke the silence.

Harry jumped up to his feet and held his wand out in front of him at arms length. "_Stupefy!_" There was a startled yell and the sound of someone stumbling out of the way of the blindly aimed spell.

"My God, Harry, watch it with that thing! You almost got me."

"Ron?" Harry asked. "_Lumos._"

"Yeah, it's me." The red head said, shielding his eyes from the sudden bright light. "And Hermione is right be hind me, or did you want to hex her too?"

A small smile tugged at Harry's lips. "No, Hermione is too good a friend to hex. You on the other hand . . ." He left the sentence open to interpretation.

"Why thank you Harry." Hermione said, stepping out into the circle of light past an open mouthed Ron.

"Well, fine! Next time I wake up and find you missing in the middle of the night I'll go straight to McGonagall and instead of just me and Hermione coming out to find you you'll have every auror available combing over the grounds." Ron's smile made his statement hard to believe. "Seriously, mate, what are you doing out here?"

"Talking to Dumbledore, getting some things off my chest. Things have been hectic lately. I just needed to slow down and try and digest everything that has been happening." Harry said. He then turned from his friends and slid back to a sitting position against the coffin. Ron and Hermione followed suite on either side of him.

"It all has been rather surreal, hasn't it?" Hermione asked of no-one in particular. The two boys remained silent, lost in their own thoughts. "And it's nowhere near over yet."

"Nope." Harry's one word answer said it all.

The trio continued to sit in silence for a few minutes before Ron's stomach decided it had something to say. Hermione and Harry both turned to look at Ron and his gurgling stomach.

Ron grinned from ear to ear. "What do you say we move this party to the kitchens?"

"Sure thing Ron, it was getting a little cold out here anyways." Harry stood up and offered a hand to either of his friends, pulling them to their feet. "Hermione, can you hand me the invisibility cloak? I think you sat on it."

"Hmm? Oh. So that's why the ground seemed softer than usual. Here you go." Hermione picked up the cloak and handed it to Harry who slung it over his shoulders. He then pulled out an old piece of parchment from a pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. If you see anyone coming, we'll all try and squeeze under the cloak." Harry said. He then handed the map to Ron and they all started the trek back up to the castle.

They walked slowly for they were in no hurry. (Except perhaps Ron, who kept apologizing each time his stomach growled.) They walked silently for most everything that had needed saying had been said earlier in the day. They walked cautiously for the attack of the Death Eaters was still fresh in their minds.

They were just about two-hundred meters from the entrance to the castle when the strangest thing happened. Energy seemed to build up in the air, like electricity, causing hairs to stand on end. Harry, Ron and Hermione stopped walking and looked around them to try and discern the cause of this sudden energy. A glance at the Marauders Map showed that they where the only ones out on the grounds. But if no-one else was out there, what was causing this phenomenon?

Suddenly, the amassing energy whooshed past them, causing a breeze. They turned in the direction the breeze was blowing and their eyes alighted on the Quiditch Pitch off in the distance where a glow seemed to be forming above the near goal posts.

Looking at each other, the trio drew their wands and headed off towards the pitch at a run. All the while they were running the glow grew in brightness. They reached the edge of the pitch just in time to witness the bright spot fold in upon itself. When it was no more than a tiny spot of intense light, brighter than the sun, it exploded with a deafening bang.

Among the specks of light floating to the ground, the body of a girl appeared in the grass. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed forward to the still figure. Covering her mouth with one hand at seeing the extensive wounds, including a large gash near the girls right shoulder which looked like it had almost severed the arm, Hermione leaned down and used two fingers on her other hand to check the girl's neck for a pulse.

Standing back up, she announced to a very pale Ron and Harry: "She's alive."

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One word: Wowsers. I've had Inspector Gadget on the brain all day, don't ask me why. The theme song is on an endless loop in my head. (Okay, so it was more like 25 words.)


	3. III

HBP Spoilage

Summary: At the end of her sixth year, Briara Potter, "The Girl Who Lived," defeated Lord Voldemort. In his last moments, Voldemort used the _Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum _charm, banishing Bri to a far more familiar HP universe until its Voldemort is destroyed by its own chosen one.

And so the saga continues, well not so much of a saga being as it is rather short right now, but you get the idea.

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Standing back up, Hermione announced to a very pale Ron and Harry: "She's alive."

"A-a-alive?" Ron stammered. "How could anyone look like _that_ and still be alive?"

"I'm sure I've come pretty close." Harry said blandly. "Come on, she needs medical attention; let's get her back up to the castle."

"I don't think that will be necessary." Ron and Harry looked at Hermione stupidly.

"What do you mean it's not necessary? She's dying!"

"Look Ron, all the professors are heading this way already. They must have heard the sonic boom she made when she . . . arrived. It would be safer if one of them moved her. We don't want to aggravate her wounds unnecessarily." Hermione explained.

"She's right. We need to get their attention." Harry said, turning around to face the castle. He then shot a jet of yellow sparks into the sky, indicating to the aurors and professors where they were.

The main doors leading into the castle had been thrown all the way open. The light from inside poured out into the night, illuminating the backs of many figures rushing out from the castle. When the dark silhouettes noticed the light display in the sky a group of them broke off from the rest and headed towards the pitch. The rest of them divided up and went to inspect the remainder of the grounds for disturbances and danger.

Hermione knelt back down by the strange girl to monitor he pulse while they waited for the detachment to reach the pitch. Ron paced anxiously next to Hermione while Harry ran out to meet the group heading their way. As he got closer, he noticed Professor McGonagall and Mad Eye Moody (who was moving pretty fast for a man with a peg-leg) in the lead.

"Professor! We need Madame Pomfrey. There's a girl, she's been injured. Ron and Hermione are with her just over there." Harry breathlessly motioned in the direction from which he had come with his hand.

"Potter! What are you doing out . . . Injured? How? Was she attacked? Were there Death Eaters?" McGonagall had stopped running but the group was still moving at a quick pace towards the pitch where Ron, Hermione, and the unconscious girl were waiting.

"I, we don't know. She just appeared, Professor, that's what caused the noise. Hermione, Ron and I were on our way back to the castle after visiting Dumbledore when we noticed something strange. We followed a light over the Quiditch Pitch and when we got there, the girl appeared out of nowhere."

"Like magic, eh Potter?" Moody asked. Moody's magical eye swiveled towards the girl lying prone on the ground who had just come into view. "We must hurry, her pulse is weakening. McTaggert, run back up to the castle and have Poppy prepare a bed for the girl. We'll be there shortly."

"Yes sir." A young auror whom Harry didn't recognize dashed back towards the castle at breakneck speed.

"Her pulse is slowing down!" Hermione called to McGonagall as the rescue group reached them, unknowingly echoing Moody's prior statement.

"Move to the side, I'll take it from here." Moody pushed everyone out of the way until he was standing next to the beaten body of the girl. "_Mobilicorpus stabilis._" The body rose into the air without moving from the position it had been in while sprawled on the ground. Propelling the floating girl in front of him, Moody headed towards the infirmary.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger, follow me. I have some questions to ask about what happened. And then we will have to go back over your curfew rules and why they are important. The rest of you," McGonagall turned to the remaining aurors that had followed her over to the pitch, "continue searching the grounds, something happened here tonight and we need to know what."

The aurors moved off down the field. The outlines of their bodies disappearing as they melted away into the darkness of the night. It became eerily quiet after all the excitement had passed. The only sound left was the wind whistling through the goal posts.

The grass near Harry's feet was bent down where the girl's body had crushed it. Some of the blades had been stained red with the blood that had seeped from her numerous wounds. It was scary. Harry somehow felt that given different circumstances, it could very well have been _his _body beaten to a bloody pulp and deposited in the middle of a field somewhere. It was not something he wanted to think about.

McGonagall turned to the three students that had snuck out of the castle. "Now, Potter has informed me that you three were outside tonight paying your respects to Dumbledore. As noble a cause as this is, you are aware that the daylight hours would suite your purpose just as well, and would be much more conducive to a long life."

"I just needed some time alone with him, to talk things over." Harry explained, as they all started heading back towards the castle. "I mean, during the day, there is going to be a large crowd paying respects and I needed him to myself. Ron and Hermione only came out to find me, and then kept me company."

McGonagall sighed sadly "I understand, Harry. But it is still to dangerous for you to be outside at night, even with your friends. You-Kn . . . Voldemort is on the offensive now and we must be more cautious. Especially you Harry, you are his main target now that Dumbledore is gone."

"Harry knows, Professor." Hermione said "and he will be more careful from now on. We all will."

"You had better. I expect you and Mr. Weasley to watch Mr. Potter's back at all times." McGonagall stopped when they had reached the main entranceway. "Go back to your tower. It's late and I can wait until tomorrow to hear your story about how the girl appeared. I will contact Buexbatons and Durmstrang to see if they are missing any students. She doesn't look like one of ours that I recognize but she doesn't look old enough yet to have graduated. Get some sleep; I will let you know of the girl's condition tomorrow."

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione said.

"G'night, Professor." Ron yawned. "Harry, you coming?"

Harry turned back to face his friends from gazing out the doors back towards the pitch where they had found the girl. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Let's go."

The trio turned and headed up the stairs towards the Gryffindor Tower while McGonagall went off in another direction toward the infirmary to check on the girl before sending owls to the other schools.

It had been a long night. A strange one too, and it looked as if things were only going to get stranger. There was something about the girl that Minerva just couldn't place. She had the strangest feeling that she should know her, and yet she was sure that she had never seen the child before in her life. Well, hopefully someone would be able to identify the girl so they could get her back to her family. They must be going wild with worry. To have your daughter go missing in the middle of a war? It must be terrible. The poor parents. Everything would sort itself out in the morning; everything looks brighter under the light of day after all.

Minerva reached the infirmary. "How is she Poppy?"

"The poor dear is pretty badly cut up. That one on her arm especially, it may take a few weeks to heal fully, even with help. She looks as if someone used her for target practice. Besides the regular battle curses, she shows signs of _Crucio_. She was most likely attacked by Death Eaters. She's not a muggle, though, that much is sure by her clothing. It almost looks like one of our school uniforms but it's so beat up its hard to tell. I would suggest moving her to St. Mungo's, however, if Death Eaters _are _after her it would be easier for them to reach her there. I've done all I can tonight. It's up to her now."

"She will live?"

"Yes, she'll live, but it may take a while for her to regain consciousness. Her mind turned itself off to deal with the pain."

"But she will be all right?"

"Physically? Yes, her body will heal. Mentally, I don't know. To have to suffer through receiving such terrible wounds could cause a person to turn in on themselves. To become extremely introverted, distrustful of others. It is different for each person. We can only hope for the best."

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Well, that was a load of blah. Kinda slowish in my opinion. Lots of blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah. Okay, I'm done. Blah. Darn! It snuck out.

Okay, it may be awhile until next time, I have three tests this upcoming week. Yuck.


	4. IV

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER IV

I should be cleaning my room. But my mom is 2000 miles away and she cant make me. So the room cleaning can wait. So can studying for the stupid tests that are plaguing my existence. Okay, studying can't wait, but it is going to, so there!

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

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Briara was flying. No, not flying, more like hovering. Flying involved movement from one place to another. All she was doing was sitting in one place, well hovering in one place. Speaking of places, where the hell was she?

It was grey as far as the eye could see. It had been the same way the entire time she had been floating there. She started to concentrate on her surroundings. Maybe if she looked harder she could make something out. The overpowering single shade of grey that surrounded her on all sides began to take shape. The dull color shifted and bended into itself, leaving some areas lighter while the grey deepened in other spaces forming shadows of objects that where there and yet . . . not so. The harder she looked the more the surroundings beneath her started to appear familiar. If she squinted her eyes she could now just barely make out the shapes the converging grey was making.

Directly beneath her were three familiar goalposts. Across the way she could see the matching set. Well, now she knew where she was, now onto the next questions. Why was she floating, and why was everything grey and fuzzy like a black and white wizarding photo that had gotten soaked in water?

She couldn't sense any magic that was holding her in the air. So that ruled out _wingardium leviosa. _She wasn't on a broom. No cables or ropes were holding her up. So just how was she up here? Nothing unnatural seemed to be keeping her there, maybe something had changed about herself. What did she know of that floated like she was doing now? Ghosts.

But she couldn't be a ghost, could she? What was the last thing she remembered doing before she got here? It was mostly a blank. She had gotten up, eaten breakfast (a glass of orange juice and two pieces of toast with raspberry preserves, and of course, the usually lemon filled doughnut,) and classes had been as boring as ever. She was missing something important, she knew that much, but what?

VOLDEMORT! How in the world could she have forgotten _that_ little detail? He and his murder buddies had attacked during dinner. They had entered the grounds from the Northwest corner just past the Pitch over which she was now hovering. And she had gone out to fight him. And she had won, or so she thought. Not many people could withstand being run through with a sword.

But if she had beaten him, why was she here? Had Voldemort killed her before he had died himself? He had said something, hadn't he, just before she blanked out? Was she dead? It was certainly possible.

But then why was she a ghost? Ghosts were mad when a person is so afraid of death that the stay in the living plane after there true lives are over. Briara had no fear of death. She didn't want to die, but she certainly didn't fear it. It was just a part of life. The last great adventure.

But being a ghost didn't explain the dull grey that was everywhere around her. As far as she knew, ghosts could see in color. Nearly Headless Nick had complemented her on a new maroon blouse that she had worn one day. He had said the color reminded him of a gown his mother had worn when he was little.

And if she was dead, where was everyone that had survived? Shouldn't she be able to see them caring for the wounded and burying the bodies of the dead? All the ghosts she had met seemed to be able to see and interact with the living. She couldn't see a single person anywhere within sight.

Maybe there had been some sort of transition period between death and . . . whatever it was that she was now. That would explain it. Now she just needed to go find someone and see if her friends were still alive. After all, it didn't really matter if she was dead, so long as Voldemort was dead too, all that mattered were her friends and family.

Briara stood up from the cross-legged position in which she had been sitting, er, hovering. Cautiously, she tried taking a few steps in the direction of the castle. So far so good. It was kinda creepy walking fifteen meters above the ground, but she was getting where she needed to be.

While she had been lost in her thoughts the world had taken on more definition. It looked now more like a grey watercolor painting of the Hogwarts Grounds as opposed to a water _damaged_ picture.

When she reached the front entrance, she realized she had a problem. Briara was way above the top of the doors leading into the castle. How in the world was she supposed to get into the castle? She happened to be floating at a height exactly between to levels of the castle so none of the windows could gain her admittance either.

Well, she'd just have to figure out how to get down to ground level. She did the only thing she could think of and began willing herself to float _gently_ downward. Emphasis on the _gently_, even if she was dead she didn't want to plummet all the way to the ground. Surprisingly it worked, and Bri let silently sighed when her toes where hovering centimeters above the ground as opposed to meters. Now she could go through the front doors.

Tentatively she pressed her hand to the door, and when she actually made contact with the solid material, pushed the doors open just enough for her to squeeze in.

It was nighttime, or so Briara had guessed by the dark grey color of the sky outside, so she didn't expect anyone to be roaming the hallways. _The infirmary would be a good place to start looking for people,_ she decided_ Madame Pomfrey will most likely be awake tending to the injured from the battle._

Silently gliding/walking through the empty halls, Bri wound her way to the infirmary. Pushing open the doors she expected to see the place filled to the brim with spare cots holding the injured. Surprisingly, there was only one bed surrounded by closed curtains that seemed to be occupied.

Curiously, she moved over to the bed and pushed back the curtains.

Had her jaw not been attached to her face it would have dropped to the floor. There on the bed in front of her in full resplendent color was her own body, the chest rising and falling slowly under the grey sheets.

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This was a bit shorter than the others, but I really should be studying, so I have a good excuse. It may also look shorter due to the lack of dialogue and use of larger paragraphs.


	5. V

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER V

This took longer to get written, I know, but I've had a very stressful past few weeks. Between classes, tests and my grandmother passing away, I haven't had the time nor desire to write.

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

* * *

Okay, the last time she checked dead floating people weren't supposed to have live breathing bodies. What the _hell _was going on? This couldn't be normal, not even for the wizarding world. 

Bri moved to sit cross-legged in a chair next to the bed holding her body. She rested her right elbow on her knee and put her head in her hand. Things were definitely not looking good. How in the world was she supposed to get out of this mess?

She glanced to the bedside table and analyzed all the potions sitting there that appeared to have been used on her corporeal body to find any possible clues as to her current predicament.

Blood clotting potion, a variety of painkillers, blood replenishing, scar reducing, a potion to heal burns, another to promote new skin growth, a bone-mending potion, and an anti-concussion potion. Well, it certainly looked like she'd been given some of everything Mdme. Pomfrey kept in stock except for dreamless sleep. Even if dreamless sleep had been present, it wouldn't explain the current out of body experience – that potion promoted sleep with _no_ dreams. Maybe there had been a bad reaction between two of the potions? No, that didn't make sense either; Pomfrey always knew exactly what each thing did and its effects on a patient. Besides, she'd been given most of these potions together before on multiple occasions.

Well, if . . . . Wait a second, what was that? Another small bottle had fallen on its side in-between the larger ones. Briara stood from the chair and picked up the small bottle to examine it. She had seen it before; Malformed had overdosed on dreamless sleep back in fourth year when his nightmares had gotten really bad. It was a waking potion, the counter potion to sleeping potions. It was meant to wake a person instantly when a drop was placed in each eye. Bri looked around and saw a used eye dropper that had fallen to the ground. But, if the potion had been used on her, why was her body still asleep? Why was her consciousness stuck floating around in this gray, water colored counterpart to the real world?

With a sigh, Bri dropped back into the chair and slumped down. This majorly sucked. She hated not knowing what was going on. That and she was getting bored, not to mention sleepy, which was strange since she could see herself sleeping right in front of her already. No knew ideas where coming to her about the predicament, so, with nothing better to do, she leaned her head back against the chair and drifted (not literally) into sleep.

* * *

Harry snuck back through the castle halls to the infirmary under his invisibility cloak. He knew that McGonagall had said she would update everybody on the girl's condition in the morning, but he had the strangest feeling that something important was happening right now.

He glanced at the Maurader's Map to be sure Filch's cat was nowhere near him to sniff him out. He was in the clear. Mrs. Norris seemed to have stumbled across two recently graduated Hufflepuff students, um, saying their goodbyes in the Astronomy Tower. Filch was on his way to join them.

Turning one last corner, Harry reached the infirmary. _That's funny_, he thought, noticing the doors left open wide enough for someone to slip inside, _Madame Pomfrey always closes the doors at night when she has patients staying overnight._ Harry stepped through the open doors quietly so as not to wake Pomfrey. He could get in real trouble for A) being out at night (again) and B) disturbing a patient.

He made his way over to the only bed with the curtains partially drawn around them, pushing the curtains aside; he stepped in next to the bed. The girl looked a lot better, Pomfrey had healed her wounds and provided her with clean clothing.

The feeling that something important was occurring had not disappeared, but at first glance Harry couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He glanced around, closely taking in all the details around him, hoping to find the source of the feeling. Still noth . . . hey wait! Since when was someone sleeping on the chair next to the bed? Harry blinked his eyes and looked again, the figure was gone.

It must have been his imagination, it _was_ pretty late (or early, depending on how you looked at it) and he hadn't been able to sleep in a while. He glanced at the map just to be sure no-one else was there. There wasn't anyone, just him. Wait, what about he girl on the bed? Her name wasn't appearing on the map! Harry looked closer. No, a name was written there, but it was terribly faint and blinking. He couldn't even read it. Was that what the map did when someone was dying? But she couldn't be dying! Madame Pomfrey had cured her. She didn't look deathly.

Harry shook his head to get the dismal thoughts out of his head. He really needed to get back to bed. Nothing was happening down here and he had a long train ride in the morning. With one last glance towards the unnamed girl, Harry left the infirmary, softly closing the doors behind him.

Morning seemed to come far too quickly after Harry had finally gone to sleep. He wouldn't have woken up as it was except for the pillow that had been thrown at him by none other than his best friend.

"Come on Harry! Hermione's dressed and waiting downstairs. I'm starving, let's go eat breakfast. Everyone else from our dorm is already down in the Great Hall. Oh, and I want to know what happened to that girl from last night. That was really strange, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was something else." Harry said, pulling on a clean shirt. "Let's go."

Harry and Ron ran down the stairs to the common room where they met up with Hermione. Together they went down towards the Great Hall.

"So, do we eat first? Or do we find Professor McGonagall and ask about the girl?" Hermione said as they reached a junction, one way leading to breakfast, the other to the infirmary.

"McGonagall will most likely be in the Great Hall overseeing breakfast, so we may as well go on down there and eat first. She would have come to us if something major happened." Harry reasoned. Both he and Hermione turned to Ron as his stomach rumbled. "Besides, I think Ron's hungry."

"You got that right Harry, I feel like I haven't eaten in forever." Ron said.

"Ron, you ate enough to feed a small family in Ethiopia last night at dinner." Hermione pointed out.

"So?" was his answer.

As they entered the hall McGonagall caught their eyes and then went back to her breakfast, signaling that she knew they were there.

The sat down at one end of the Gryffindor table and spooned various breakfast items onto their plates. They were all preoccupied, even Ron, thoughts of the girl in the infirmary souring the taste of the delicious food. When Ron, the last to put down his fork, finished they all got up and made their way to the professors table.

When McGonagall saw them approaching, she excused herself from a conversation with Flitwick and rose to great them.

"Alright you three, come with me. Madame Pomfrey has been able to heal all the girls wounds however she won't wake up despite our best efforts. That will have to happen naturally if it does at all. I was in contact with the other schools in the region this morning; no-one is missing any students. So we still haven't a clue as to who the child is. Perhaps if you told me how she got here it would answer some questions." McGonagall was talking quickly as they all headed towards the hospital wing.

"Well," Hermione began, "We were all heading back towards the castle from Professor Dumbledore's memorial when it felt like lightning was going to strike, energy was tangible in the air. Then a glow developed over the quiditch pitch. It got brighter and brighter, and then she just . . . appeared. Does that help?"

"It is a start." McGonagall said, opening the infirmary doors. "It doesn't sound like any spell I know of, but it does seem to be some sort of magic. I'll start researching as soon as all the students leave this afternoon. Here we are." They had reached the girls bedside.

Harry looked over the girl on the bed; she appeared the same as she had last night. On a sudden impulse, he glanced towards the chair where he had thought he saw a figure sleeping the night before. To his surprise, the figure was there, a transparent carbon copy of the girl lying comatose on the bed was staring directly at him.

* * *

Briara had been woken up that morning when a grey Madame Pomfrey had come to look after her body. Try as she might though, she couldn't get the nurse to see her or perceive her in any way. It was official- life (or whatever it was that was going on) sucked. Giving up, she had curled back up in the chair and stared at her body.

That had been her first visitor. Professor McGonagall had come by a few minutes later and left shortly after she came. So far, no-one had been able to see her.

Until now. A strange boy had come had just walked into the room. He was giving off some sort of light which blurred the other three figures that walked in with him beyond recognition. Once he had noticed her sitting in the chair, they had engaged in a staring contest.

Bri decided to make the first move. "You can see me?" She said. The boy shook his head, either he couldn't understand her or he couldn't hear her. She pointed to eyes then to herself. "Can you see me?" she repeated. The boy nodded then pointed to his own eyes and then to her. "YES! Contact with the world!" Briara shouted enthusiastically, jumping up and down. The boy appeared to laugh.

* * *

"Uh, Harry?" Hermione asked, sounding worried "What are you laughing and pointing at?"

"Can't you see the girl?" Harry asked, turning to the others "She's standing right there." He indicated the floor in front of the chair.

"He's gone mental!" Ron said.

"No, I'm not crazy Ron, the girl is there, she's like a ghost of the girl on the bed. She seems excited that I can see her."

"But the girl on the bed is alive, Potter, she couldn't be a ghost." McGonagall said.

"I think they are the same person, I'll ask her." The others watched as Harry pointed at nothing and then at the body on the bed and then held up a single finger. "Are you and she the same? Are you one person?" he asked aloud for good measure.

* * *

Briara watched the boy's gestures. _Me, my body, a finger. No, that doesn't make sense. One? Me, my body, one? Are my body and I one thing, one person?_ She nodded happily as she deciphered the charade. "Yes!"

She touched her ghostly chest and then moved to touch her body to show they were one and the same. As her hand came into contact with her body, however, she became disoriented. She closed her eyes to block out the swirling that had started. Upon opening them again, the world was in color and she felt a soft pillow under her head and a mattress under her horizontal body. She was back in her body!

"Man, I really should have tried that sooner." She said turning to the people standing next to her bed. She fixed her eyes on the boy who she had communicated with "Thank you so much for . . ." she stopped, her brain finally realizing who was standing with the unknown boy. "Hooters? Bushytail? Oh God! You guys survived! I am so glad! Where is everyone else? My parents, did they make it?" Briara jumped out of the bed and hugged Ron and Hermione. "Why isn't anyone else in the hospital? How long was I out?"

Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "I'm sorry." Hermione said "You must have us confused with someone else. I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ron Weasley."

Bri was sure her friends were playing a stupid joke on her. "And I'm Briara Potter, of course you're Hermione and Ron, now stop the stupid charade."

"Briara _who?_" Harry asked.

"Briara _Potter_. And who are you, I don't recognize you."

"I'm Harry . . . Potter, and these are my two best friends. None of us have ever seen you before."

Something stranger than usual was going on and Bri's already stressed mind couldn't handle it; she fainted.

* * *

Longest chapter yet. Yay me. 

To clear things up; Harry didn't go to the infirmary at night because he was attracted to Briara or anything, he just had a weird feeling. There is no romance planned for this story and that pairing would be crazy/gross anyways since they are both children of Lily/James Potter.


	6. VI

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER VI

Chapter six, what to say, what to say? Not much, except that I'm sleepy. Man, when am I not tired? Never. I really should be sleeping. But I don't wanna. So I'm doing this instead. Yay for rambling.

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

/S/

McGonagall had run to fetch Pomfrey as soon as the girl had woken. The school nurse would want to run some tests on the child and ask her some questions to see if she was alright. Actually the first thing Poppy would do would be to ask Potter, Weasley, and Granger to leave and let the girl recuperate in peace. Perhaps she should have asked them to leave before she herself had gone. Oh well, too late now. Ah, there was Poppy now!

"Poppy, come quick, the girl woke up. Potter somehow _communicated_ with the child and she regained consciousness."

"Just now? Potter did something? I'm not really that surprised. He does seem to be involved with almost all strange happenings in the castle in some way or another. I'll be right there. Just let me grab some things." Poppy scurried around her office, throwing several different vials into a bag to take with her to the bedside. There was no telling which type of potions the girl may require, depending on her mental state. "Alright Minerva, I'm all set."

The two older women retreated from Poppy's office and moved at a quick pace back to the bed holding the girl. They arrived just in time to see Ron stepping through the curtains surrounding the bed.

"Oh, good, you're here! I was just coming to get you. The girl fainted." Ron pulled aside the curtains to reveal the (once again) unconscious girl.

"What in the world did you three do?" McGonagall asked, she knew she should have asked them all to leave as soon as the girl had begun to stir. "Can I not leave you for five seconds? What did you do to make the poor child faint?"

"We didn't do a thing professor." Harry said, not looking up from the girl on the bed.

"We were just talking to her." Hermione explained "I think she may be delusional. She claimed to know me and Ron. She said her name was Briara Potter, Professor. Do you know anyone by that name?"

Madame Pomfrey moved in to examine the girl, Briara, while the others in the room continued their discussion.

"The only Potter's I know were Harry's family. There is no-one by the name of Briara in his line, I would have heard of it. You say she claimed to know you and Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall said, addressing Hermione. "This is indeed most unusual. Her waking-up seems to have brought more questions than answers. Will she be all right Poppy?"

The nurse stood up from leaning over the bed and straightened her skirts. "It appears that her mind was simply overtaxed, too much excitement upon waking. My guess is that she was overwhelmed upon waking up in a strange place, filled with people she didn't know. Her mind may have tricked her into believing she recognized both Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, to provide something familiar."

"But Madame Pomfrey," Harry spoke out "She called them by nicknames, and seemed relieved that they were alive. Ron and Hermione told her their real names and she still claimed to know them."

"Well, you three have been written about and had your pictures in the newspapers; perhaps she recognized Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger from there."

"But then wouldn't she then have thought she knew all us? She flat out denied that she knew Harry, and he's the one with all the media coverage. If she was recognizing us from that, wouldn't Harry have been the obvious choice for her conscious to latch onto? " Hermione asked.

Madame Pomfrey sighed and shook her head "We have no way of knowing for sure what is going on until the poor dear can answer questions, I have some smelling salts here that may rouse her. However, if they do not work, I will have to ask that you depart. I don't want for you to miss your train."

"Yes Madame Pomfrey." The three chorused.

The nurse reached into one f her apron pockets and removed a small vial shaped somewhat like a three sided, rounded pyramid. After twisting off the lid the lid, she held the vial beneath Briara's nose. Everyone looked on as a single puff of maroon smoke rose from the vial and entered the girl's nose. Briara inhaled deeply, sneezed, and her eyes fluttered open. She sat up, glanced around the room again, noticed Harry still standing in her field of vision and declared:

"Damn, you're still here. I guess it wasn't a dream."

And then threw her head back down on the pillow and sighed heavily.

"Hello dear, I'm Madame Pomfrey; you have been under my care since you arrived. If Mr. Potter's presence bothers you, I will send him straight away. He was one of the students that found you, along with his friends. They are all simply worried about you."

Briara looked sadly at the nurse "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"I'm afraid not, child, should I know you?"

"You don't recognize me either Professor McGonagall?"

McGonagall shook her head. "All I know of you is that Misters Potter and Weasley and Ms. Granger found you badly hurt at the school's quiditch pitch. When you first woke you named yourself Briara Potter. That is the extent of my knowledge. I wish I knew more so I could help."

_Great,_ Briara thought _they really don't know me. I can just tell from the look on Ron's face that he's entirely confused about what's going on. I probably look twice as confused. I mean, he and Hermione only have to deal with one strange girl claiming to know them while I have a room almost entirely full of people who should know me who don't. Man, my life really, truly, and utterly sucks. _

"You should all know me, well, except for four eyes over there." _I really shouldn't have called him "four eyes" I hate it when people call me that when I wear my glasses. But it took up less time to say than 'the skinny dark haired kid approximately my age blessed with having poor eye sight' _ "Professor, you've been teaching me the fine art of transfiguration since I was eleven and first came to Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey, you have had the pleasure of curing any and all illnesses, battle wounds, and so on, that I have come across over the past six years. Hermione, we met on the train coming to school first year. I've known Ron forever, because our families were close, but we became good friends with him after we saved him from a troll."

"You got that wrong," Ron interjected, "It was Harry and I that saved _Hermione_ from the troll. Why would I be stupid enough to run off and hide in the girl's restroom when a troll was on the loose?"

Briara laughed "The girl's restroom, Bushytail? No, it had trapped you in Professor Snape's classroom where you were serving detention for something or rather that the twins did and blamed on you."

"This conversation is getting us nowhere. Now Briara," Hermione looked at Briara to get conformation that she had used the correct name. Briara nodded slightly. "It is clear that you believe you know us all, however as none of us have any recollection of you at all, it just seems impossible."

"I know it seems weird, but I am not crazy. There is nothing wrong with me mentally, I know who all, well, most of you are, and I know who I am. And no matter what you tell me, I won't believe differently. I am Briara Potter, the so called 'Girl-Who-Lived,' the chosen equal of Lord Voldemort, and his destroyer. For that is what I did before I found myself here in this strange mockery of the Hogwarts I know. I killed Voldemort."

All those gathered around the bed stood silently in shock at what the girl had just declared. Well, all those except Ron.

"She really is mental. No wonder her conscious didn't latch onto Harry as someone she thinks she knows. She thinks she _IS_ Harry!"

Harry, however, wasn't too sure about Ron's statement. Somehow, he knew Briara Potter was telling the truth.

/E/

Well, that took longer than planned. I have excuses though. They are really good ones, but I'm sure you're not interested, so I'll spare you. I'm not all that pleased with how this chapter turned out, I re-wrote it a few times but it still seems kinda blah to me.


	7. VII

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER VII

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

/S/

Briara was suddenly a bit peeved. Had Ron just called her hairy? He knew that was taboo, ever since the 'incident' back in fifth year in transfiguration when Ron had jolted Hermione just as she was changing her bowling ball into a dog and the spell hit Bri instead. To say she had looked like the muggle character, Cousin It, was an understatement. Well, HER Ron would have known. As far as she knew, Bushytail was far away beyond her reach. However, that didn't stop her from getting angry. It had been a very stressful past few minutes while she had been conscious. "What's hairy? Certainly not me! If anyone needs to worry about hair it's your poor friend over there! Doesn't he know what a comb is?"

Hermione started to giggle. Briara sent her a death glare. "I'm sorry Briara!" Hermione said between laughs. "It's just that you misunderstood. Although, you DO have a point about his hair, his NAME is Harry."

_Oh, right. I think I remember them calling him that. Oops. But hey! Why would Ron say that I thought I was this boy? I mean, I'm obviously a girl._

McGonagall took over the speech. "He's Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived et al. And it is HE who must kill Vol-Voldemort. Voldemort isn't dead; we would know. So you must be mistaken as to who you are. Perhaps you hit your head harder than we thought."

"Not dead? That's not possible. I ran him through with a sword. I watched him die. That's the last thing I remember clearly before I ended up here. Give me verituserum, anything! I know I'm not lying." She swept away the bangs that covered one half of her forehead. "See? I even have the curse scar from where he tried to kill me at my Grandparents' house when I was one. Madame Pomfrey can even check it to see if I'm lying."

After receiving a nod from McGonagall, Pomfrey went forward and poked and prodded at the scar on Briara's head with the tip of her wand. "It's not fake, I can't perceive any form of glamour. The scar tissue is real and was indeed produced as the result of a powerful curse. Harry? Could you come here please? I would like to compare the two."

Briara looked at Harry weirdly. _He has a scar too?_

"Anything to help, so long as I'm not the one stuck in the hospital for an overnight stay." Harry went and stood beside the bed next to both Madame Pomfrey and Briara and was still while the nurse poked at his forehead just as she had the strange girl's.

Suddenly Pomfrey took half a step back and her eyes opened wide. She looked directly at McGonagall. "They are identical. Their scars. Not a single difference between the two. It isn't possible even with magic."

"But then what does it mean, Poppy? Surely there must be some difference you overlooked. She couldn't have lived through the killing curse without anyone knowing. She would be as famous as Harry, or at least nearly so, if it were true."

While the adults discussed different explanations for the mysterious identical scars, the four teens began to softly talk among themselves. Harry and Briara were now sitting side by side on the hospital bed. Bri was swinging her legs back and forth.

Harry turned to look at her. "You survived the killing curse?"

"Yeah, small world huh? Though I'm beginning to think I'm not in Kansas anymore."

"You're from Kansas? That's in the United States, right?" Sadly, Ron meant the question in earnest.

"It's a muggle pop-culture reference Ron," Hermione explained. "It means she doesn't think she is anywhere near her home."

"Oh, okay. Why Kansas?"

"Nevermind, Ron, it's from a movie." Hermione turned to look at Bri. "Are you really who you say you are? It's just so hard to believe."

"I believe her." Harry said. "I don't know why, but I do."

"But how is it possible?" Ron asked "I mean, she would have to be from a different world of something."

"Well I suppose it is theoretically possible. There are some ancient spells, mostly forgotten, that allow people to look into the worlds of 'What If.' It would simply take a stronger spell along the same line of magic to bring forth people from these places. Briara may have come from a 'What if the Potter's had a girl' universe. Of course, other things may be different as well in Briara's world. But the magic required to do such a spell would be immense." Hermione stopped, lost in thought.

"Voldemort did it!" Briara exclaimed. "I remember now. At least, it could have been him. After I stabbed him with the sword from the Sorting Hat . . ."

"Gryffindor's Sword!" Ron interjected "Harry slew a basilisk with that thing."

"The sword belonged to Gryffindor? Huh, I didn't know. Real handy, that. Anyway, I took the sword, stabbed the mean, evil, smarmy, not to mention ugly, old guy. He was dying, I was in pain, and he called out a spell just as I blacked out. 'Als ego all us rude to mum', or something."

McGonagall stopped talking abruptly. "Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum?"

"Yeah, that was it. Does it mean anything?"

"My dear, that answers all our questions about your origin. I just wish I'd thought of it sooner. It's a terrible charm. True dark magic. The soul of the castor is bound in endless torment until the parameters of the charm are met."

"But what does it mean? How does it have anything to do with me?"

"Well, roughly, the spell can be translated to 'another me, another try.' The spell sends the object of the castor's desire to the next closest possible universe in which the castor's wish can be fulfilled. Assuming that Voldemort's desire was to kill you, you were sent here to us, his hope being that the Voldemort of our world can do away with you. If he succeeds, your Vodemort's soul will be releases to its final resting place, most likely Hell. If you survive, and Harry kills our Voldemort, the soul will be destroyed."

"Couldn't I kill your Voldemort? I mean, I'm the chosen one too."

"No, the spell is safeguarded against the same failures twice. It's possible for you to kill him, however you would be sent even farther from your own world to the next universe where Voldemort still lived. You can only help from the sidelines. It is Harry Potter's, not Briara Potter's, destiny to destroy Voldemort here." McGonagall put a reassuring hand on each of the Potter children's shoulders.

It was silent for a moment. Everyone simply stood or sat, absorbing the information. Bri desperately wanted to ask a question, but refrained, fearing the answer. Hearing the answer she feared would make it come true.

"Is there anyway she can go back home?" Being so closely connected to Harry, both though blood and similar experiences, seemed to make them think alike. He could ask the question she dared not to.

McGonagall squeezed Bri's shoulder. "There is always hope. I have never heard of it happening before, of course, the spell has only been confirmed to have been cast twice in the history of wizard kind, neither time being within the past two thousand years. If Albus were still alive maybe he . . ."

"Dumbledore is dead!" Bri nearly shouted, interrupting Professor McGonagall. "How? It's not possible! He is the most powerful wizard ever."

Pomfrey gave Bri a sad look. Hermione's eyes misted over. Ron and Harry both turned away so no one would see their tears. McGonagall simply clasped Bri's hand. "I think, perhaps, that it is time to discuss the differences between your world and ours."

/E/

Wow, these poor people have been standing around a bed talking for over two chapters. They need to get out more. And didn't Harry, Ron, and Hermione have a train to catch? Hmm, well, next time we delve into the differences between the worlds. There was one major one mentioned in this chapter; it will be explained in further detail later. Maybe I'll even get them all out of the hospital wing, then again, maybe not.


	8. VIII

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER VIII

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

/S/

"You mean differences beyond the whole boy/girl thing? 'Cause that ones kinda obvious. Of course, there is the whole the whole issue where DUMBLEDOR is DEAD!" Bri stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. It's just, it seems unreal. I'm all for this share-and-compare session, but could we take a break first? I still need to get used to this whole alternate universe dealy." She paused as her stomach growled loud enough to be heard down in Hogsmead. "I guess I'm kinda hungry too."

"Of course child! We should have seen to your needs before asking all those questions. I'm a terrible nurse! I got caught up in all the mystery surrounding you. This has never happened before. I'll contact the house elves and have them send up a hot plate right away." Madame Pomfrey began to send a message to the kitchens when Briara interrupted her.

"Actually, could Ron, Hermione and Harry just take me to the kitchens? I need to get out of the hospital wing for a bit; clear my head."

"As I'm sure you know, I don't make a habit of allowing my patients out before I deem them completely healthy. However, considering who you are and who your friends are back at home, you would most likely leave the instant I turned my back and go who-knows-where. So, I will permit you, the other Potter, and Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger to take an excursion to the kitchens. You have half an hour, after that, I will hunt you down myself and drag you back here by your ears." Pomfrey gave the quartet the 'I-Mean-Business' glare.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bri saluted and hopped off the bed.

"Just a moment, please." McGonagall cut in. She turned to address Harry, Hermione and Ron. "The Hogwarts Express departs in forty-five minutes for King's Cross." The three looked crestfallen, with the train leaving that soon they would not be able to hear Briara's story. "However, allowing for present circumstances which, as usual, directly involve you three, I will contact your parents and guardians and arrange for alternate transportation later this evening after supper."

"Thank you professor." Ron said "Uh, Madame Pomfrey, are we on the clock yet?"

"As soon as you set foot outside these doors I will begin the countdown, Mr. Weasley."

"Alright, great, are you guys ready to go? If we leave now we shouldn't run into any other students, they'll be in their rooms grabbing the last of their things."

"Good point Ron," Said Hermione "Lead the way! With all the extra people that have been here recently it's likely no one would comment on your being here, Briara, but it's better if you don't have to answer questions from the other students who don't recognize you."

"True. Thanks for looking out for me."

"Well, I suppose you're one of us, you know?" Harry said, as they headed out from the hospital moving towards the painting of the fruit bowl.

_It's weird, _Briara thought, as the moved down the halls, amicably chatting about anything and everything and yet nothing important all at the same time. _Hermione and Ron are so similar to Hooters and Bushytail, except for the occasional weird comment that makes absolutely no sense to me. All their facial expressions and hand gestures are identical. At least I got stuck somewhere where my friends still exist. Well, at least two of my friends in any case. They have been really nice to me even though they don't know me. I wonder where Malformed is anyway. It stands to reason that if Hooters and Bushytail have counterparts, Malformed would as well . . ._

"Malformed!"

"And this weather we've been . . . what the?" Ron was forced to stop mid-sentence when the strangest scene began to unfold before his eyes. What in the blazes did that girl think she was doing? She had suddenly shouted and run ahead of the others to grab the person coming around the corner in a bear hug. That wasn't what was so strange. What was bothering him was A) what was _that_ person doing here and B) who in their right mind would hug . . .

"Malfoy!" Harry had his wand drawn and pointed at the white-blond figure engulfed in Briara's hug. "How dare you come back here?"

"Really, Potter? Sending little girls to hold me still so you can land a hex on me? Despicable. No wonder the Dark Lord is taking his time getting rid of you. How could you pose a threat to Him if you can't even get me without help?"

Briara suddenly let go of Malfoy and took a step back away from him. "I'm sorry; I confused you with someone else." Then she slapped him and walked back over to stand next to Harry.

"Well, that was certainly entertaining." Malfoy said, rubbing his cheek. "I only came back today for one reason, Potter; to make sure you come back next school year. I mean, after all, _I'll _be here. A Malfoy like myself can't go out into the world without a complete education. In fact, all the Slytherins will be back."

"Why?" Hermione asked "Haven't you lot done enough already?"

"Oh, we're just getting started. With Dumbledore out of the way and most of the students from other houses too scared to come back, the Slytherins will be in control."

"You can't win, Malfoy, evil turns in on itself and destroys itself from the inside." Ron's face was turning red with anger.

"Leave Malfoy, before we make you." Harry said, motioning with his wand in the direction Malfoy had come.

"Believe it or not, Potter, I didn't come to fight, just remember what I told you. And keep your groupies off of me. Malformed? Is that what you call me behind my back? Childish, Potter, very childish. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better places to be." With a mocking bow, Malfoy turned on his heel and went back down the hall.

Ron looked disgustedly at Briara. "You're friends with _Malfoy?_"

"Yeah, Malformed, that is, Draco and I are friends. All of us are back in my world. Hooters, Bushytail, Malformed and me, Funstripes."

"Is Malfoy your boyfriend? 'Cause from the way you greeted him . . ." Hermione seemed genuinely curious, not condemning her at all for her choice of friends at home.

"What? Oh, God no! He's like my _brother!_ We grew up together. Mr. Malfoy thought it would look good for his son to be friends with me after Voldemort disappeared when we were one year olds. He seemed to think it would clear up any suspicions that he had been a Death Eater if Draco was friends with The-Girl-Who-Lived. After all, what Death Eater in his right mind would purposely seek out such a playmate for his child? Of course, he _was_ a Death Eater and ended up fighting against his own son during the second war. Draco has always been there for me, even when forced to choose between aiding me and siding with his own family. My parents pretty much adopted him after fourth year. Sirius always said that Draco reminded him of himself when he was little."

"So your Malfoy is not an evil, psychotic bastard?" Everyone shot Ron weird looks. "Just checking, I guess it's okay if you were friends with him then."

"Well, thanks ever so much for your permission Ron." Briara said sarcastically. They had just reached the painting leading into the kitchen and Harry reached up to tickle the pear. "You tickle the pear here? Another small difference I guess. Back home we point at the banana and laugh. It gets offended and leaves the painting, (how I'll never know, bananas don't have legs,) the gap where it was reveals a handle to open the door."

The house elves swarmed around the four teenagers, placing heaping plates of food in front of them and then scurrying back to their other work when Harry assured them they didn't need anything else. Ron, Harry and Hermione just picked at the sausage and waffles and other foods being as they had just eaten breakfast recently. Briara dug in with a relish.

"So what do the nicknames mean anyway?" Harry asked, examining a piece of toast.

"Well, you know about my, well, I guess, _our,_ father and the Mauraders, right?" At Harry's she continued. "Well, my friends and I carried on the tradition. We achieved animagus status summer after third year. Hermione changes into a great horned owl; Hooters. Ron, a squirrel; Bushytail. Draco is a coyote, his nickname, Malformed, has nothing to do with that but rather his inability to make a complete transformation until well after the rest of us. I'm a zebra, Funstripes, after a muggle brand of chewing gum. Of course, my stripes are just black and white, not multicolored like the gum's mascot. During the war we added titles to them as well, sergeant, lieutenant, etcetera. They didn't mean anything but they were kinda fun."

"Animagus? Just after third year?" Hermione didn't seem to believe what she had heard. "That's not possible, the level of magic control required to do that is beyond any third year."

"Well, we had a lot of unofficial help in the form of Uncle Sirius."

"Still, that's amazing."

"I'm sure you guys have done plenty of amazing things over the past few years. We should wait until we're back with McGonagall to compare, however. This strawberry syrup is superb!" Briara missed her friends and didn't feel like talking about them anymore just then. The upcoming conversation with McGonagall was going to be traumatic enough without going into already emotionally stressed.

When she had finished eating the group had ten minutes to return to the hospital before Pomfrey went on a warpath. They thanked the house elves, who bobbed their heads and blushed at the extreme kindness the teens shown them, and went back out into the hall. Even moving slowly, they made it back with five minutes to spare.

/E/

Okay, I lied; we didn't delve into the differences. We merely brushed the surface. At least they got out of the hospital wing, eh? Classes start tomorrow. Yay School! (Insert sarcasm here.)


	9. IX

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER IX

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

/S/

"Welcome back. I trust you ran into no complications?" McGonagall asked as Briara, Harry, Ron and Hermione trooped back into the hospital.

"It was . . . uneventful, Professor." Hermione said, with a sideways glance at the others.

"Well, Ms. Granger, what exactly is your definition of 'uneventful?' It must not coincide with mine. Judging from your look, something must have happened. I only nope that it was nothing serious."

Ron looked at McGonagall with a disgusted look on his face. "We ran into _Malfoy."_ He all but spit the name out. "The git said he was coming back next year with all is little buddies before he disappeared."

"Sadly, Mr. Weasley, Malfoy has as much a right to come back next year as you do." McGonagall said, ignoring Ron's language. "Despite his transactions this year, there is little we can do. This school has always been open to all students who wish to learn. Even if we did kick him out for allowing the Death Eaters on-campus, we could not get rid of the rest of the Slytherins who would undoubtedly take his place as their ringleader. The enemy you know is often better than an unknown one. Mr. Malfoy's presence could present us with an opportunity. If we watch him closely we could gain hints as to what the other side is up to."

"He said he wanted to control the school with a majority of students, namely the other Slytherins, all loyal to Voldemort." Harry said.

"Yes, I figured as much. But what does he plan to _do_ with the majority? We shall just have to wait and see. Now, I had thought we would move to Dumbledore's office for our conversation. Poppy is already up there preparing a couch for Briara so she can lay down if Poppy tells her to; I'm sure you all know how Madame Pomfrey works by now so I wont bother explaining her reasoning." McGonagall stood up and rearranged her robes. "Follow me."

The four teenager followed McGonagall as she walked to the back of the hospital wing and into Madame Pomfrey's office. With a sideways glance at the students, she walked directly through a grandfather clock sitting in the corner, the other four closely behind. After three or four paces through complete darkness they found themselves suddenly walking up the stairs towards the Headmaster/mistresses office. A glance behind them showed no trace of where they had come from.

"Each staff member has a passage that links directly to this stairway for expedient travel to the headmaster's office. They are always open unless the current headmaster wishes them to be closed for some reason or other. If that is the case, then the staff must go by way of the gargoyle. As acting headmistress, I decided it would be best if you all knew this. If it is ever imperative that you reach me and another professor's office is closer than this one, simply tell them I gave permission to use the passage."

"I just think you were being lazy, Professor. You didn't want to walk." Briara said with a small smile.

McGonagall smiled back at the girl over her shoulder. "There is that."

Pomfrey opened the door to McGonagall's new office as Headmistress. "There you are! I thought I heard you on the stairwell. Come in, come in, I've prepared a spot for you, Briara, so you'll be comfortable if things become too stressful."

Briara allowed herself to be ushered through the doors and onto a plump sofa covered in pillows that changed colors every ten seconds. She plopped herself down and grabbed the nearest pillow to hold in front of her. Pomfrey sat on the other side of the same couch as Briara. McGonagall took a seat directly across from them while Harry Ron and Hermione each sat in overstuffed chairs completing a circle.

_This place looks different every time I'm up here. _Briara thought. _ It must be charmed somehow to react to how it's being used, like the Room of Requirement. Or it could be due to the whole alternate universe thing again. _

"Are you ready, Ms. Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"Sure, where do you wanna start?"

"As much as I would like to discover how Albus survived in your world, I think it would be best to begin at the beginning, the night Voldemort first attacked you and gave you the scar."

"Well, I don't really remember it, because I was only a year old, but I'm told it goes like this: My family had gone into hiding because it was known that Voldemort could possibly be out to get me. Mum and Dad thought it would be best for us to split up before the charm was performed with the secret keepers. They sent me to my father's parent's house while they stayed at Godric's Hollow. Sirius was to be there secret keeper because he was the obvious choice; they figured Voldemort would go after him once he couldn't find any of us. Even if Sirius had been caught and forced to divulge the secret, it would only lead to Mum and Dad and not all three of us. They chose Pettigrew to be the secret keeper for me and my grandparents. They thought Peter was safe because he was easily overlooked. Of course, that's not how it worked out."

"Wormtail was working for Voldemort, wasn't he? That's what happened here." Harry said.

" Yeah, he skipped right up to the big bad snake and told him where to find me. Voldemort came with his groupies, killed my grandparents and tried to kill me. The killing curse bounced back and hit him instead. I guess my Grandma performed some ancient spell by sacrificing herself for me which served as protection thingy against Voldemort. My parents had heard of what happened and came rushing in just as the last of the Death Eaters apparated away following Voldemort's disappearance. And that was pretty much that."

"So, James and Lily are still alive?" Pomfrey asked.

"They aren't here? Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry! What happened?"

"We only had one secret keeper; Wormtail. I was with my parents at Godric's Hollow when it was attacked and Mum sacrificed herself for me, not my grandmother."

"I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry for you."

"It's alright; I don't even really remember them. I guess we hit the first big difference between realities. So what happened next?"

"Well, I grew up mostly a normal girl. People knew me everywhere I went and I couldn't stand it, but it was to be expected I guess. I went to primary school. Became friends with Draco, and that's pretty much it until I got to Hogwarts. As I said before, I met with Hermione on the train. I had gotten in a fight with Draco over which house was the best and was looking for a different place to sit. Hermione invited me to sit with her and later we helped Neville find his poor toad, Trevor, together. We bumped into Ron while we were looking for the toad, but he was being really rude and stuck up; he seemed to think he was cooler than the rest of the first years because he knew a lot of the older students already there through his brothers.

"I got sorted into Gryffindor with Ron and Hermione while Draco went to Slytherin. Draco and I finally realized we could still be fiends and be in different houses, so he, Hermione and I stated hanging out a lot and doing homework together. Halloween came and Ron joined the group too after Hermione and I saved him from the troll in Snape's classroom.

"During first year the Philosopher's Stone was being guarded at Hogwarts. We all thought that Snape was trying to get it but it was . . ."

"Quirrel, the defense against the dark arts professor. The same thing happened here. Ron almost got killed by McGonagall's chess pieces while Harry disintegrated Quirrel and passes out." Hermione said. "It seems like our first years were pretty much the same. So what about second year?"

"Nothing exciting happened second year, unless you count the new defense professor getting carried out the window by some Cornish pixies and never returning at the end of the year. I was really moody that year, my parents had told me about the prophecy over the summer and I was _not _happy."

"You were told of the prophecy when you were eleven?" Harry exclaimed "Dumbledore didn't think I should know until Voldemort came after me for the fifth time when I was fifteen."

"That was stupid of him. Oh, and we found a cool hideout that we used kind of as Marauder HQ in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The door could only be opened by parseltounge, which I happen to speak, thanks to Voldemort."

Harry looked at her like she was crazy "You used the Chamber of Secrets as your headquarters? What about the basilisk?"

"The Chamber of Secrets is just a myth." Bri said.

"It's no myth," Ron told her. "Ginny was possessed by Voldemort during our second year. She got trapped down in that room and Harry saved her. That was when he used the sword from the sorting hat to slay the basilisk."

"Do you mean to tell me that when my friends and I thought we were alone down there, there was actually a giant snake down there too? Wow, that's kind of creepy. I kind of wish you hadn't told me. Why didn't the snake attack us?"

"The snake has to be summoned. I think it hibernates until it is called, so as long as you didn't summon it you would have been alright." Harry explained.

"I'm really glad my second year wasn't nearly as exciting as yours. I'll bet I'll have you beat out during third year though."

"What happened?" McGonagall prodded. She had a notebook out and her quill was moving rapidly, taking notes on Bri's tale.

"Well, it started out simple enough. Uncle Remus was the defense professor that year and I don't know about here, but back home Remus is a werewolf." The five others in the room nodded. "Well, that has nothing to do with the excitement of the year except maybe as a side show. About halfway through the year Hermione confronted me about his condition, see, I was supposed to keep it a secret but since Hermione figured it out I told the rest of the group as well, with Remus's permission, of course. It was about this time that we started seriously attempting to, uh . . . follow in the Marauder's foot prints, as it were."

"Do you mean by playing pranks on poor unsuspecting students? Or by becoming animagi?" McGonagall asked, recognizing Briara's attempt not to tell the whole truth in her previous statement.

"You knew they were animagi? My McGonagall had no clue until Dad told her during the second war. Of course, he also told her about the rest of us."

"It was only recently that I discovered Sirius and James's abilities, when it became necessary knowledge to ensure Sirius's safety. So you and your friends also attempted animagi transformations and succeeded?" McGonagall was moving the conversation along, outwardly appearing unimpressed by the girl's statement.

"Yes, all four of us made the transformation the following summer. But anyway, back to the exciting time that was my third year. When threstral drawn carriages were bringing the students up to the castle from the train station everyone noticed that the Forbidden Forest seemed to be a lot closer to Hogwarts than it had been previously. It had gotten so close that Hagrid's, you do know Hagrid, right? Well, his hut was no longer on the edge of the forest but was now within its borders. No one knew what was going on except for possibly Dumbledore and he wouldn't say anything.

"As the year went on the forest got closer and closer to Hogwarts Castle. It eventually reached the front doors and you couldn't go outside without entering the forest. They cancelled quiditch that year because the pitch couldn't be kept clear, which was a pity because Draco, Ron and I had all been planning on trying out for our house teams.

"I'm sure you all know Hermione's insatiable curiosity, she had the four of us researching things that could possibly be going on with the forest. We couldn't find anything in the library that would help us so, I guess it was in February, we talked her into actually exploring deep into the forest instead of just the fringes as we had been doing. We took my fathers invisibility cloak and snuck out one night.

"The forest was different than any of the times we had snuck into it on previous years. It was quiet. No animals were running around at all. Not even the centaurs challenged us for entering their territory. We kinda walked around aimlessly for awhile until we found a, well a trail. The trees had all been uprooted in a perfectly straight line, about ten feet wide, leading further into the forest. We decided to come back later that weekend during the day so it would be light out.

"We didn't get a chance to come back for over a month; Professor Snape caught us sneaking back into the castle and gave us detentions. When we did go back, sometime in March, we followed the trail to a clearing where we found a giant nest with a bunch of large egg fragments. We freaked at that point. Judging from the size of the eggs and the nest, the parents must be huge. Hermione and Ron each grabbed pieces of the shell so we could look at them closer when we returned and figure out what had hatched from them.

"We asked Hagrid first, as he is the most knowledgeable on dangerous creatures, but he refused to tell us. It was kind of obvious that he knew though. So, we hit the library again instead. Still nothing; it seemed that all the books that could possibly be helpful had been removed. So back into the forest we went. Hermione stayed at the castle to cover for us, and I think she didn't want to get into trouble again.

"Back at the nest site we hid in some trees to see if whatever had been there would come back. It did. It was a griffon with three cubs. Long story short, it sniffed us out, chased us out of the forest and we went straight to Dumbledore, who knew about the whole thing ahead of time. He walked us back into the forest, (we picked up Hermione on the way,) and introduced us to the thing. Apparently he had invited the griffon to the forest to give birth to her cubs like she had every hundred years since Gryffindor himself had invited her. The Forbidden Forest growing in size was just a side effect to the griffon's presence.

"And that's where the excitement ends, well except for Wormtail being found hiding as one of the first year's pet rat. Some poor kid in Ravenclaw. He escaped and ran back to his master. I didn't see him again until the end of fourth year. Did anything similar happen here?"

"Here we had an escaped convict from Azkaban supposedly chasing after Mr. Potter." McGonagall explained. "It turned out, however, that Sirius was hunting down Pettigrew, who was posing as Mr. Weasley's rat, Scabbers."

"Sirius was in Azkaban? What for? Did he prank the Minister of Magic again?" Briara asked.

"No, Mr. Black was framed for murdering the Potter's by Peter. Everyone thought that it was Sirius that had turned the Potters over to Voldemort. He spent eleven years in Azkaban before he escaped."

"But they know he's innocent now, right? He's alright, isn't he?"

There were uncomfortable looks throughout the room. "I'm afraid, Briara, that Sirius was killed at the end Harry's fifth year. His name has been cleared, but it was too late." McGonagall looked sad, as did everyone else in the room.

There was an awkward silence in the room as Briara silently grieved for the counterpart of the uncle she had known all her life. The silence was broken shortly after by a soft knock on the door.

A familiar head poked through the open doors. "Did I come at a bad time? You said you needed to see me immediately, Minerva?"

"Yes, thank you for coming Remus. I have a favor to ask of you."

/E/

Yay, the chapter is done. Now I can sleep. Tell me what you think.


	10. X

ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER X: **In which we return to Briara's dimension**

Me no own-y

/S/

Draco ambled listlessly around the desolate pitch, kicking the torn up turf out of his way. He was never going to play quiditch ever again. That was for certain. Not after this. The sport had been ruined. Funny that he would be thinking of quiditch at a time like this; truly there were far more important things to stress over. Such as the end of the war. It should be a happy occasion. It _was_ a happy occasion. He just couldn't force himself to be happy. Too many were wounded, dying, _dead_. Voldemort was gone, true, but at what cost?

When Bri had delivered the killing blow, it had been as if someone had detonated an expanding silencing charm, growing out from its epicenter around Bri and the Dark Lord. There had been dead silence as everyone watched Voldemort stumbled backwards off the glistening blade in Bri's hands and fell. When it became clear that their Lord was not getting back up, the Death Eaters had begun to apparate away, taking advantage of the stunned non-action of their foes. Well, non-action of _most_ of their foes. In a short amount of time Mad-Eye had built up an impressive trail of prisoners which he dragged along behind him as he ran to apprehend the next miscreant. And then just as the first cheers began to sound at Voldemort's defeat, a resounding crack resonated across the pitch accompanied by a brilliant flash of light. When everyone had cleared the spots from their eyes, Briara was gone.

That had been five hours ago. Draco still couldn't believe it. His best friend had just vanished into thin air. Dumbledore had a theory as to what had occurred, but as of yet he had not divulged his suspicions to anyone, including Mr. and Mrs. Potter. The couple was sitting out in front of the expanded hospital wing. Lily silently sobbing into her husbands shoulder as he openly wept. Remus and Sirius stood near bye, offering silent comfort and nursing the physical wounds they had received in the battle. All four had refused to see the healers until Dumbledore told them what he thought had happened to Bri. Dumbledore himself was closeted in his personal library, trying to find more information to back his theory.

"Are you going to be all right?" Draco jumped at the soft voice that appeared right next to him. Hermione smiled slightly at his reaction "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. But truly, are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know." He replied honestly "It can't be real, you know? She's going to take off the invisibility cloak or pop out from behind some tree and laugh at us for being stupid and falling for her trick."

"I know what you mean." Ron said, having caught up to his friends. "But I already found the cloak and checked all her regular hiding spots. She's really gone."

The trio circled around the pitch and came to a stop in front of the goal posts where it had happened. Voldemort's body had been removed along with all the bodies of the dead. The bodies of those fighting against the Dark Lord had all been cleaned and were waiting in coffins in the Great Hall for the hero's funeral that awaited them. The Death Eater's bodies had been gathered together and incinerated. Gryffindor's Sword, as Dumbledore had called it, had been put on display in the Headmasters office, right next to Slytherin's Scythe.

"So what do we do now?" Draco asked.

"I hate to sound cliché, but I guess we just take it a day at a time, live our lives to the fullest. Funstripes wouldn't want us to be all mope-y over her." Ron paused for a moment. "And Dumbledore knows something. It may be possible to get her back. It's defiantly possible to get her back. She _will_ be back."

"Of course she will, Ron." Hermione clasped Ron's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Dumbledore will find her. I have no doubt about that."

"I wish I could have your faith. I have a feeling that she may never be back. I don't think she's dead, but, oh I don't know. I can't explain it. There is another layer to the puzzle that I can't quite grasp." Draco paused and sighed. "Come on, it's getting late, it _is_ late. I could go for a peanut butter and raison sandwich. They were Bri's favorite."

Draco, Ron, and Hermione adjourned to the kitchens. It took the combined effort of all three of them to muster enough laughter to offend the banana. None of them were in a laughing mood. The house elves must have known they were coming; a large platter of raison and peanut butter sandwiches had been prepared, sliced diagonally and with the crust cut off, but not thrown away (they had their own platter.) A pitcher of grape soda and three glasses had also been set out.

They sat cross legged around the small table in the corner and passed the sandwiches around. The soda poured itself into the glasses. And they each grabbed one.

"To Briara." Hermione said, raising a toast "May the four of us be together again someday."

"To Briara." The two boys echoed.

"All right," Draco said "You both know the drill. Crust first." He picked up one of the cut off crusts and started munching on it. Briara had had the strangest way of eating peanut butter and raison sandwiches. They had to be cut diagonally and the crust had to be removed. The crust always had to be eaten first, no reason, just because. Then the rest of the sandwich could be enjoyed. Grape soda was also part of the PB-R tradition. Bri didn't actually like the drink, in fact she loathed it, but as a result of losing a bet during third year she had been forced to imbibe it whenever she wanted to eat her favorite sandwich. The parameters of the bet had cut off after a year, but the grape soda had become a tradition by then.

They finished eating in companionable silence and then headed up to the Gryffindor Tower to try and sleep away the pain of losing a friend. Normally Draco would have gone down to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeon; however it was all but deserted due to the number of children who had left due to having Death Eater parents. An extra bed had been set up in the sixth year boy's room especially for Draco ever since he had run into trouble earlier that year with his housemates when they had found out that he had been the one to betray his parents and some of Voldemort's secrets to Dumbledore and the ministry. Not that any of them actually made it to their beds. That would leave Hermione alone in the girl's tower. Instead they opted to rest together on the overstuffed couch as they had in the past.

* * *

Dumbledore slowly climbed down the stairs leading from his office. Dawn was breaking through the open windows. It had been nearly twelve hours since the fall of Voldemort and the disappearance of Briara Potter. He was fairly certain he knew what had happened to the girl. He had seen the exact bright light and heard that exact same sound once before. It had happened while he was just a student at Hogwarts. Gryffindor had just beaten Slytherin for the Quiditch Cup and the Slytherin captain had been eager to try out a new charm he had learned on the Gryffindor captain. The boy hadn't had enough power to make the charm work; the Gryffindor captain was swallowed by the light and a loud crack and had disappeared . . . to be deposited twenty meters down the pitch five minutes later.

That boy may not have had the power to enforce the charm, but Voldemort most certainly did. Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum was _not _a charm to be messed with.

Dumbledore drew comfort from the small vial he held in his right hand. Ms. Potter may not be able to come home for some time, however, that did not stop them from sending someone after her to keep her company. He rounded the corner to face the hall outside the Hospital Wing. Makeshift cots lined the walls. Many of them were filled with patients, resting after receiving treatment from Poppy and the Healers who had volunteered from St. Mungo's to aid the cause.

He wound his way through the cots and came to stop in front of two cots jammed together in a corner with four adults sleeping fitfully upon them. He cleared his throat softly to wake them. Eyes slowly flitted open.

"James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, good morning."

"Albus! Are you ready to tell us what happened to my baby? Or do you come to prolong my despair?" Lily's tone was slightly venomous, she was obviously peeved about being kept in the dark.

"If you would follow me to my office, I will divulge all I know. Someone should probably go rouse Mr.'s Malfoy and Weasley and Ms. Granger. Undoubtedly they will wish to hear this news as well."

"I'll get them, Albus. I'll meet you in the office." Sirius patted James on the shoulder and walked a short way down the hall and then disappeared into the wall to retrieve his god-daughter's friends.

* * *

When he reached the common room he was not surprised to find all three of the teenagers slumped together sleeping on the large couch. Had the situation not been nearly so serious, Sirius would have taken this opportunity to pull some sort of prank on the sleeping teens. Instead he gently shook them awake.

"Hey. Come on. Dumbledore is ready to talk."

Never had he seen them get up so fast. Hermione didn't even go to the bathroom to fix her unruly hair. She simply threw the wild curls into a quick pony tail and practically ran to the portrait, not even waiting for the others.

In short order, everyone had rendezvoused in the headmasters office.

"Well?" Prompted James "Where is Briara? And how do we get her back?"

"I am not exactly sure as to where your daughter is, nor am I quite certain how to get her back." Lily and James did not look happy with this news. "What I can say is that I am reasonably sure that she is alive, at least for now. From what I know, or can deduce, she has been sent to another dimension. Getting back will be up to her, little we do here will have an effect on her return."

"So what can we do?" Remus asked "We can't just leave her there."

"No we cannot. Which brings me to the reason it took me so long to bring you all here," Dumbledore held aloft the vial he had been carrying with him. "This is the Potion of Lost Souls. Luckily, a previous headmaster had this made many years back. It was simply a mater of my finding it. Otherwise it takes three months to brew the potion, not terribly long, but three months would feel like a lifetime in a situation such as this."

"How does the potion work, Professor? I have never heard of it." Hermione said.

"It's quite simple really. It will take the drinker to the one who is lost. No matter where they are. In this case, to Briara. There are certain rules however. The drinker must be closely connected to the lost. I do not think we will have any problems with this clause in this group. The other issue is that there is no way to bring the drinker back. They must find their own way. Of course, if Briara finds her way back, whoever is there with her could simply drink another of these and follow her, so that problem too is circumvented. The biggest problem will be which of you is to go? Of course, we can brew more potions, but it will take time."

Lily and James looked at each other. Which of them would be best equipped to help their daughter? They did not even have a chance to argue the point when a voice rang out.

"I'm going." Everyone turned to look at Draco, who had stood foreword with his proclamation. Lily and James looked at him, stricken. He was like a son to them, but Briara was their daughter. If anyone where to go it would be one of them.

"Listen, Draco, we appreciate your . . ."

"No, I'm going." Draco cut off James "Look, you and Mrs. Potter are needed here. You are both needed here. As fully trained wizards, you can do a lot to help everyone here during the aftermath of the war. There are still Death Eaters to hunt down and I'm not exactly qualified to do that yet. I'm still a student. I won't be missed. After a few months, when things have settled down, then you can come with the second batch of potion."

"Young Mr. Malfoy is correct." Dumbledore said "I myself would have suggested sending one of the younger generation had not Draco so valiantly volunteered. A friend is most likely what Briara needs right now."

"I don't like it, Albus, Lily or I should go. She's our daughter."

"No, we should let Draco go." Lily said, putting a hand on her husbands arm "Think about it, Dear. When you were her age, who would you rather have with you on some grand adventure? Which is exactly how Briara will view this whole thing, she is YOUR daughter after all. Would you rather have Sirius and Remus or your dad?"

James sighed. "You're right. You or I would probably cramp her style. All right Draco, you can go."

"Thank you sir."

"How many times must I tell you to call me James?"

"You know I only do it to bug you. So where are we going to do this? Here?"

Dumbledore provided the answer. "I thought it would be best to 'do this' at Order Headquarters. Being as the school year is over here, I do not wish to take the chance that you would appear in a nearly empty castle. Members of the Order should be able to care for you once you arrive and help you find Briara. And so, if you will all just step to the fireplace, I believe the Floo system is up and running again."

Once they reached the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix they each took turns telling Draco goodbye and giving him messages to pass on to Briara. Lily and Hermione each gave him a hug and he shook each of the men's hands. And with no further ado, he downed the potion.

It was a strange feeling. First he rose up off the ground about four feet and then it was if someone had pinched his nose and was using it to lead him around. A high pitched whine filled the air. Darkness stole over his vision and he began to feel rather nauseous, especially after he began to spin in circles. And then, after what felt like ages, the movement stopped, light began to filter through his eyes and the whine dulled. Now he could hear the clinking of cutlery on plates. Obviously the Order was in the middle of a meal.

Suddenly he dropped from the air and fell about a foot before landing on a table with a thud. All sounds of eating stopped as eyes fixed upon the figure on the table. Draco opened his eyes . . . and then immediately closed them. Shit. He opened his eyes again, fixed a smirk upon his face and boldly faced the person in front of him.

"Hello Father! It's positively spiffing to see you again." Obviously Malfoy Manor had _not_ been converted into the headquarters for the Order in this dimension.

/E/

Ta-da!


End file.
